


Eight

by allicya



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Based loosely on Three Lives Three Worlds, I’m confused too so let’s stop here, Three AUs actually, With MAMA crossed over
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 16:31:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17429471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allicya/pseuds/allicya
Summary: Baekhyun kept on losing Jongdae and whatever fate decided for them, they ended up meeting each other again.With a different twist, in a different situation, in a different life.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is basically me, trying to get Three Lives Three Worlds out of my brain by mixing Baekchen together with it. 
> 
> Please watch that drama. It is so good. And in case you got confused with this story too.

“Let’s stop seeing each other.”

Baekhyun looked at Jongdae but his eyes unfocused. Where exactly to look anyway? He hated this, just by saying those words were enough to make him wanted to throw up.

“That easy?”

Jongdae didn’t even look up at Baekhyun. He sat rigid, the silence in the cafe was too much. He could feel Baekhyun’s eyes on him, whom sat just across him, but he couldn’t look at Baekhyun now. Not when his eyes were all watery, he tried his best not to cry.

“I’m so sorry, Dae...” Tears fell from Baekhyun’s eyes. He had no intention to fake anything, knowing he really ruined everything this time.

“Okay.” Jongdae stood, eyes never met Baekhyun’s. What more could he say and do? He knew this would happen, even though he tried his best to deny it.

“Take good care of yourself.” Baekhyun still looked at Jongdae, but Jongdae just couldn’t look back at him. Jongdae slowly left for the door, deep down inside with sheer hope that Baekhyun would stop him.

If only he knew, it took all of Baekhyun’s courage not to do so. But again, maybe he knew. He played his part too to use all of his courage to leave and never to beg. After all, it was better to be the one that left. Or was it worse to be the one that left? Which was easier, to be the one that ask for a breakup or to be the one that to hear it?

In their case, both ways didn’t matter because both of them received the equal pain. They were very much still in love, but both of them were still so young. Just a month after finishing high school, waited to enroll in their respective universities.

Was it Baekhyun’s fault for not trying his best to defend their loves? Or was it Jongdae’s fault for giving up too easily when their relationships being threatened? Both of them probably shared the equal amount of fault.

They met each other for the first time when they were 8 years old. Small Jongdae was assigned to sit beside small Baekhyun in their class. Slowly they grew to be the best of bestfriends. When they entered middle school, both of them were developing something more than a normal feelings of friendship towards each other. But they never declared their feelings with each other, they just smoothly entered the lover phase when Baekhyun held Jongdae’s open palm during Valentine’s Day when they were 15 in which Jongdae reciprocated by intertwined their fingers together.

However things went south last year when Baekhyun’s mother sensed the nature of their relationships. She had no problem with Jongdae being Baekhyun’s best friend before; in fact she adored Jongdae for being loyal with Baekhyun. But when she noticed weird noises from Baekhyun’s room whenever Jongdae came to their house and the too loving stares from both of the boys, she just couldn’t accept it.

As a prominent figure of a politician, she couldn’t accept her own son to be in a relationship with someone without a name. But she couldn’t hate Jongdae too, her fondness for Jongdae would always be there. So, she talked calmly one day with Baekhyun about his relationship with Jongdae. How she expected Baekhyun to marry another politician’s child to strengthen their political movement. It’s okay to be a good friend of Jongdae but no more than that. And how she wanted Baekhyun to follow her wish. Baekhyun couldn’t accept it of course. That was when Baekhyun’s relationship with his mother went south too. Whenever Baekhyun brought Jongdae home, her mother would burst in his room and asked them to get out from the house. Whenever she met both of them on the street, she would grab Baekhyun and forced him into the car. Both Baekhyun and Jongdae endured the harsh treatment, as long as they love each other, they could do this. Or that was what their innocent minds thought so at that time.

Baekhyun’s mother finally used the dirty card when Baekhyun didn’t stop being Jongdae’s boyfriend as she wished despite the constant yellings and quarrels between them. Stay with Jongdae and have all his money, wealth and most importantly his entitlement as Byun’s son being cut or simply breakup with Jongdae and continue his life with an ease.

Baekhyun might love Jongdae with all his heart and soul but how can you ask him to cut his bond with his family? Never in his life did he do anything bad to his parents. And he could not bring it in him to turn his back from his parents. He didn’t mind not to have money, he could always do something about that but to cut his bonds with his family? His family was his first love.

So as the good son as he usually was, that too was what brought him being alone in that cafe. He sobbed uncontrollably, questioned the world why did this happened to him. His heart ached so much. 18 years old Baekhyun was heartbroken.

And he never saw Jongdae again after that day.

 

 

 

“Come on, Yeol. What took you so long?” Soo stood in front of Chanyeol, eager to leave already.

“Wait, wait! My hair!” Chanyeol lowered himself in front of Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was quick to understand what Chanyeol wanted him to do, so he helped Chanyeol to set up his hair.

“So domestic I feel like I want to puke.” Jongdae commented from the couch.

“I am sorry but this is our house so we are free to do whatever we want?” Chanyeol replied back without even looking at Jongdae.

Kyungsoo just snickered at them and patted Chanyeol’s shoulders. “All done. Let’s go already. I don’t want to be late.”

“They will not read their vows without us, believe me. We suffered through their painful pining for each other for years.” Jongdae joked and headed to the door, the others followed right after him.

 

 

 

It was Minseok and Joohyun’s wedding. Minseok was one year older than Joohyun, and they met during their school’s soccer club introduction session. Joohyun fell for Minseok at the first sight, and she fell so hard. Initially she signed up for soccer club since her friends told her that was the club with the most handsome students. After the introduction day, she learnt soccer so hard and never skipped practice just to be noticed by Minseok. Minseok did and they befriended each other.

And after nearly 4 years pining for each other, Minseok finally confessed on the last day of his school life. Joohyun was so happy that she cried so hard even before she said yes.

And now today, after ten years of dating, they will finally exchange their vows in front of their family and friends.

Jongdae, Chanyeol and Kyungsoo finally arrived at the hotel’s main ballroom. It was already packed with guests so they immediately checked their table. They were seated nearly at the front, with the best view to witness the ceremony later. On their way to their table, they greeted both Minseok’s and Joohyun’s family and handed their money gifts. They were no strangers to the family as all of them grew up together.

They were seated together with familiar faces, their schoolmates. Greetings were exchanged, then they sat on the available seats, with Chanyeol in the middle of Kyungsoo and Jongdae. They sat together with Minseok’s best friend; Jonghyun and his pregnant wife that looks like she could give birth at any time; and five more schoolmates that wasn’t strangers to them. They glanced around, those familiar faces really did bring back memories.

Something suddenly caught Chanyeol’s attention and his face changed. Kyungsoo was quick to notice the panic at Chanyeol’s face.

“Yeol, are you unwell?” Kyungsoo asked, his hand on Chanyeol’s thigh.

“Soo, he is here.” Chanyeol replied, short.

“Who’s here? Who? Who?” Jongdae asked eagerly, for he assumed it was one of Chanyeol’s past crushes.

“Baekhyun.” Chanyeol answered automatically. He slapped his mouth quickly once he realized his answer.

Jongdae went stiff once he heard the name.

The name that he tried so hard not to think of for almost eight years. Baekhyun. The person that he tried so hard not to associate with to the extent that he didn’t create any social media account. The person that made him solely contactable on his KakaoTalk and Gmail only. Byun Baekhyun.

“Where? Which direction?” Kyungsoo asked.

“From our right side, two tables from us, same row.” Chanyeol answered, stole a quick glance at Jongdae. Jongdae just remained stationary, he didn’t even look at the direction.

“Wow, that’s really him.” Kyungsoo said, calmly looked at the table.

They were silent for a while before Jongdae suddenly laughed.

“We came for Minseok and Joohyun, right? Let’s just focus on them and get over with this event.” he said, tried to sound calm.

But he couldn’t fool Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. Those two were the ones that stayed with him after that painful breakup at the cafe. They were the ones that watched him became lifeless for months, they were the ones that filled Jongdae’s university application form, they were the ones that handed Jongdae his acceptance letter and they were the ones that dragged him to the orientation day. And those two were the ones that tried their best to be there for Jongdae to be a functioning human again.

And Chanyeol and Kyungsoo knew the best that after all these years, Jongdae never really moved on from Baekhyun.

 

 

 

Minseok and Joohyun exchanged their vows beautifully, with cheers and laughters from the guests. Happiness clearly radiated from both of them as they rounded the ballroom to thank the guests.

Baekhyun smiled at them when they reached their table. “So happy that you guys managed to get this far.” Baekhyun hugged Minseok tightly.

“It’s been a while since I last saw you! When Jongin asked me can he bring you with him I was so surprised! I didn’t know you guys know each other!” Minseok said enthusiastically, even two tables from them could hear his voice clearly.

“I didn’t know he is your cousin too until I saw the wedding card. Invitation to Minseok and Joohyun’s wedding. That can only be you guys.” Baekhyun smiled at him.

They were busy talking when suddenly a panic scream could be hear from two tables from them.

“Sekyung! Help! Sekyung’s water just broke! What should I do?!” Jonghyun screamed out loud as he panicked.

Baekhyun and Jongin quickly ran towards them. They pushed through the panicked crowd. Baekhyun immediately noticed the wetness on Sekyung’s light blue dress.

“We are doctors.” Baekhyun said, Jongin nodded too from behind. Both Jonghyun and Sekyung looked at them with relief.

Both Baekhyun and Jongin could notice the water was way too much from the way Sekyung’s dress looked now.

“How do you feel now Mrs?” Baekhyun approached them and asked calmly.

“I seriously feel like I want to push this monster out! I can feel the contractions a few times already now!” Sekyung answered while gritted her teeth. If she held Jonghyun’s hands too strong, Jonghyun didn’t show the pain.

“Jongin, call the ambulance now.” Baekhyun as Jongin’s senior ordered him.

“Minseok, Joohyun.” Baekhyun called out and the other two although panicked, quickly rushed towards Baekhyun.

“I’m sorry but can you ask for a room from the management? I think Jonghyun’s wife can deliver anytime now.” Baekhyun asked, his tone was serious.

“Sure, Baekhyun. Let us talk with them.” Joohyun answered.

 

 

 

Soon, Baekhyun and Jongin was in a room with Jonghyun, Sekyung and Kyungsoo, together with one of the hotel staff. Kyungsoo, who worked as a nurse, decided to help them.

Chanyeol and Jongdae waited outside the room, together with another hotel staff and Sehun, Jongin’s partner to the wedding.

“Jongdae, if you want to return first, go ahead. I can wait for Kyungsoo alone.” Chanyeol said, lightly patted Jongdae’s shoulder.

“It’s okay, I shouldn’t leave you guys just like that.” Jongdae replied with a nervous smile. Chanyeol was quick to notice that but he didn’t say anything further as suddenly they heard cries from inside the room.

“Oh my God, Jonghyun really got a baby on my wedding day.” Minseok exclaimed excitedly as he walked towards the room.

“The ambulance already arrived. Can you tell them? I will bring the medical staffs here.” Minseok told the hotel staff.

 

 

 

Both the mother, the father and the newly born babies was transferred to the hospital by the ambulance. Yes, Jonghyun was the father of two babies now. Jongin, together with Sehun, decided to follow behind the ambulance to help explain with Sekyung’s personal doctor later. Baekhyun decided to stay behind as he was the one that handled the delivery and now his shirt was stained with blood.

“Good job everyone, thank you so much.” Baekhyun said as he bowed down towards everyone.

“Thank you so much, Baekhyun. Now we have double celebrations for this date.” Joohyun said as she patted Baekhyun’s back. Minseok was so emotional, he just smiled gratefully towards Baekhyun. They excused themselves as their guests was still in the ballroom and Minseok was so eager to tell everyone the good news.

“Good job, Baekhyun. Congratulations for the successful delivery. That was my first time handling a delivery outside the hospital, and a twin for a fact. I’m glad it turned out fine.” Kyungsoo bowed down toward Baekhyun, which Baekhyun smiled back at him.

“You did a good job, Kyungsoo. We did it.” he replied.

Chanyeol already cried beside Kyungsoo. He was so proud and happy for all of them who helped with the delivery.

“Your shirt is dirty. If you don’t mind using Jongdae’s old tshirt in his car, I can bring it to you.” Chanyeol said through his sobs. The familiarity of four of them together like old times made him slipped again and Kyungsoo was quick to pinch Chanyeol’s arm.

“Ah, I am so-“ Chanyeol started but Jongdae immediately cut his words.

“It’s okay, I will bring it from the car. Wait here.” Jongdae said and left, without even looking at any of them. Baekhyun mouthed thank you as he saw Jongdae’s back.

 

 

 

Jongdae returned to the room with a paperbag in his hand. But he only found Baekhyun there with the hotel staff, talked about how to correctly disinfect the mattress and clothes used just now.

Baekhyun noticed him and for the first time in years they finally met each other’s eyes properly. Baekhyun didn’t change at all, Jongdae noticed. Their heights were probably similar, Baekhyun’s eyes were still with a glint of mischievous although now it was calmer.

“Joohyun’s mom invited them to eat since you guys didn’t finish the courses. You can pass me the tshirt and go grab some food.” Baekhyun said as he maintained the eye contact.

Jongdae remained silent for a while as the hotel staff excused himself. The tense in the room heightened once it was just the two of them inside.

“Here, go change. Put your shirt in the paperbag.” Jongdae handed him the paperbag.

Thoughtful as always, Baekhyun’s mind noted.

“Thank you so much. You can go to the ballroom, I’ll be fine alone.” Baekhyun took the paperbag.

“Eager to dismiss me?” Jongdae’s tone was plain but Baekhyun was still surprised.

“Talk with me then.” he answered, as he headed towards the bathroom and left the door slightly open. Jongdae didn’t really know what was he doing, deep down inside he knew he wanted to talk with Baekhyun too.

“How are you? Heard from the others that you are a pilot now?” Baekhyun asked from the bathroom.

Jongdae leaned against the wall near the bathroom. “Life is good generally. Yeah, I fly a plane now. Doctor, huh?” Jongdae asked.

Truth was he himself couldn’t believe that Baekhyun managed to be a doctor. Baekhyun kept on telling him during their times together on how he wished to be a doctor instead of a diplomat which his mother always asked him to be.

“Yeah... Told my mother that I will join the student council while studying medic. Now I am a full time doctor and have no time to participate in politics, she didn’t talk with me much now. I am sure she hates me now. Probably plotting on how to remove me from the Byun’s registry.” Baekhyun tried to joke but Jongdae just kept silent when he heard that. It didn’t sound like a joke from Baekhyun’s tone, it sounded like a truth.

Baekhyun came out from the bathroom and Jongdae couldn’t hold back his smile. The yellow tshirt made Baekhyun looked younger, and they truly wore the same size.

As he watched Jongdae smiled, Baekhyun finally felt so happy that he still managed to do the effect to Jongdae. How he missed the feeling of happiness just by looking at Jongdae’s smile.

Can they start anew? As friends? And maybe, just maybe, something more again?

 

 

 

Turned out that Jongdae was the one that had to send Baekhyun home too since Jongin was supposed to be Baekhyun’s ride. It was already night when the wedding was over, and to let Baekhyun call a taxi to return home made him looked like a bad guy after all that Baekhyun already did so Jongdae just agreed with Chanyeol’s suggestion when he invited Baekhyun to come with them. He dropped Chanyeol and Kyungsoo first since Baekhyun’s house was closer to his house.

The ride to Baekhyun’s house was filled with silence, so Baekhyun automatically directed Jongdae on where to turn to lessen the awkwardness, although Jongdae himself knew the route by heart.

As they arrived at the main gate, Jongdae stopped at the sideways. Byun’s mansion didn’t change much, Jongdae was quick to notice. All these years, he tried his best not to pass this neighborhood.

“Can you open the trunk? My shirt is there.” Baekhyun asked. The smell of blood from his shirt was very strong so they decided to put his shirt at the trunk, since Jongdae and Chanyeol weren’t familiar with the smell.

Jongdae pulled the trunk button as Baekhyun opened the car door. As a sign of goodwill, Jongdae also exited the car.

“So... The tshirt?” Baekhyun asked, he closed the trunk once he grabbed the paperbag.

“Just keep it. I rarely use it anyway. Whatever you decide you want to do with it.” Jongdae answered, he still wasn’t sure where to go from here. He needed space to think. Baekhyun was his first love, once his best friend and always be the person that he adored. But he couldn’t neglect the pain that would always be there.

Baekhyun noticed Jongdae’s uneasiness so he decided to give Jongdae no more stress. It was indeed a long day for them.

“Thank you for the lift. And the tshirt.” Baekhyun said, as he held out his hand for a handshake.

Jongdae clearly hesitated but he reached out for it anyway. “Yeah, no problem.” he replied.

What else could he say when the familiar warmth suddenly overwhelmed his own emotions.

And Baekhyun didn’t help either when he grabbed his hand too hard and didn’t seem like he want to let go.

“The ring and the necklace that you hang on the rear-view mirror are mine, Dae...”

Jongdae was so shock by the statement, his face suddenly panicked. Yes, that was Baekhyun’s. Baekhyun gave it to him for their first anniversary. The ring was engraved with Baekhyun’s name. The necklace and the ring was hung there since the first day he bought the car as a safekeeping and safety charms, he didn’t even remember to remove it when Baekhyun decided to tag along since it was there for such a long time already.

“I didn’t throw away yours too..” Baekhyun added again.

Jongdae’s eyes were now teary, he struggled to remove his hand from Baekhyun’s grasp.

“Hyun, let go of me.”

Tears now dropped from Jongdae’s eyes. Yes, he saw it too when Baekhyun bowed down towards the others at the hotel. The ring hung from the necklace around Baekhyun’s neck fell from the inside of his shirt due to the gravity. Although Baekhyun was quick to keep it inside his shirt back, Jongdae’s eyes were quicker to notice it.

“Dae, I still can’t get over you..” Baekhyun cried too, and that was all it took to break Jongdae’s determination, he stopped struggling as he looked at Baekhyun through his teary eyes.

Baekhyun quickly hugged Jongdae and Jongdae immediately reciprocated.

The longing was too much for Jongdae once Chanyeol said Baekhyun’s name for the first time in a while.

The expectation to see Jongdae once Jongin invited him to the wedding was too much for Baekhyun to handle.

Both of them were so immersed with their own feelings and lost in each other’s warmth when suddenly a very high beam shone on them. A car was moving too fast at their direction.

And it happened in a blink of an eye.

Was it his mother’s face at the driver seat? Baekhyun wasn’t sure. The only thing he knew was to hold Jongdae tight as both of them were thrown over by momentum as they were getting hit by the car.

The pain didn’t register for them.

The only thing they knew was to hold each other tight.

_Jongdae, I love you._

_Baekhyun, I love you._

They weren’t sure if they said it out loud but they knew for sure.

They were still in love with each other, and the others knew.

 

* * *

 

 

It was August 8th, and there were new lives breath somewhere in Seoul.

And there were two lives lost somewhere in Seoul too.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

It was his 799th year as an angel. Yeah, Baekhyun was bored to death but he was in the Afterlife itself. He sat on his chair and tapped his table restlessly.

If only the idiom’s creator knew even death was boring he probably would not come up with that one, Baekhyun thought to himself.

“Baekhyun.” a voice resonated in the room and Baekhyun immediately stood on his feet.

“Yixing, please. Can you appear in a more normal way?” Baekhyun sighed in relief. He thought that was a visit from an archangel.

Yixing smirked, “An archangel just visited me a few hours ago so I don’t think they will visit anybody for a while. Here, two new guardians for you.”

Yixing handed him two files. Baekhyun sighed. He wasn’t really fond to guide any guardian since they asked too many questions. And Baekhyun wasn’t really a good tutor.

He checked the name on the files. Yifan. Jongdae.

“Okay, I will go to the Gate now. Now, shoo shoo.” Baekhyun gestured for Yixing to leave.

 

 

 

799 years ago, Baekhyun woke up in front of Yixing at the Gate. Literally the Afterlife’s gate. A good soul would end up with Yixing, the Afterlife’s sentry while a bad soul would end up with Zitao, the Underworld’s sentry. The Underworld’s gate was labeled as the Hell. Yeah, that hell. Why they didn’t label the Afterlife’s gate as the Heaven was probably because Afterlife was just full of guardians and angels that were either too busy writing the death registration of the mortals or too busy writing the fate of the mortals. Only archangels could write the major event in a human’s fate, and the angels would fill in the rest of the human’s fate.

The guardians could be divided into two. One was the guardian that went to the human world to collect the departed souls, and they called it the field guardians. The other one was the guardians that jotted down the death details in Afterlife, and they called it the office guardians.

At Afterlife no one remembered anything about their past lives as a mortal for the reason only archangels knew why. The only thing a soul can remembered was their names. And not even their full names. They could only remembered the name they were frequently been called with at the mortal world. All angels and guardians were categorized as souls by the archangels. But the archangels never categorized themselves. The archangels were superior in so many ways.

A very good guardian would get promoted as an angel by the archangels but Baekhyun was immediately been pointed as an angel when Yixing first collected him from the gate.

“You must have save so many lives when you were a mortal, that’s why the archangels didn’t let you become a guardian.” Yixing told him once he was given a tour around the Afterlife.

“No one knows where the archangels live but we, the angels, and the guardians live here in Afterlife. We don’t really sleep and eat but we still can do it just to fill our time. Some angels disappeared after being strucked by archangel’s lightning bolt and some degraded into guardian, so you better stick to Afterlife’s rule and avoid yourself from making the archangels angry. They can sense anyone that is breaking the rule.” Yixing added, the firm tone he was using was enough to make Baekhyun remembered his words even after 800 years.

It was the number one rule in Afterlife that anyone ended up there should never go to the Underworld. Not even a foot at the Hell. A good soul should never went to where the bad soul situated.

The rule was simple, really, but you could never guess a desperate mind.

Mostly the mind of a new guardian.

 

 

 

Baekhyun waited in front of the Gate with Yixing. They were drinking tea when suddenly Junmyeon, a field guardian, appeared with two souls. Apparently the new guardians under Baekhyun.

“They were quite noisy. Good luck, Baekhyun.” Junmyeon pushed the other two in front of Baekhyun.

Baekhyun noticed the confusion in both of the guardians’ eyes. He understood the feelings very well.

“I am Baekhyun, an angel that will guide you for as long as you are in Afterlife. Welcome to Afterlife, guardians.” Baekhyun started.

Junmyeon joined Yixing at the tea table and both of them snickered at the formal introduction. Baekhyun was always awkward as a mentor.

“What’s your name?” Baekhyun looked at the taller soul.

“Yifan.”, he replied.

Truly a voice of a troublemaker, Baekhyun thought to himself.

“You?” Baekhyun looked at the shorter soul.

“Jongdae.” the soul smiled at him.

Truly a voice of a troublemaker, Yixing and Junmyeon whispered with each other.

But Baekhyun was too mesmerized by the smile, he went speechless for a second.

And Baekhyun knew better there was another important rule in Afterlife.

Never harbor a feeling towards each other because after all, Afterlife was just another temporary stop.

 

 

 

Baekhyun decided that Yifan would be the office guardian and Jongdae would be the field guardian. Yifan looked like he could handle paperwork well, and Jongdae...

Yeah, Baekhyun took a special liking towards Jongdae. Jongdae understood his words quickly and reacted well to his jokes. Jongdae would hype whatever fate he decided on a mortal when he came to visit Baekhyun’s room. Jongdae that would smile brightly whenever he saw Baekhyun from afar.

Whenever Jongdae went to the mortal world to collect departed souls, Baekhyun would tag along. Yixing noticed that Baekhyun now often went to the mortal world since Jongdae arrived in Afterlife when usually he just sat in his room, wrote an angsty story in a random human’s fate.

“I just didn’t want him to make any mistake! He is quite clumsy at times.” Baekhyun was quick to his defense whenever Yixing asked him his intention to tag along.

 

 

 

Baekhyun spent his time too often with Jongdae to the point that he neglected Yifan sometimes. Whenever Yifan went to Baekhyun’s room to ask for something, Baekhyun was absent; either in the mortal world with Jongdae, or wandered around Afterlife with Jongdae. Not that Yifan minded though, he preferred to be alone too.

One day, still within 799 years of Baekhyun’s time in Afterlife, Yifan suddenly got lost while he was on his way to the Gate. He wasn’t a field guardian, so he didn’t go to the Gate often.

And he still hadn’t master the teleportation skill. Damn Baekhyun for ignoring him in favor of Jongdae.

Yifan arrived at a long red bridge and he knew for instant that it wasn’t the Gate. The Gate’s bridge was white in color. Yifan saw a soul stood on the bridge and decided to ask help from the soul.

Yifan slowly approached the soul. The soul noticed him right away and smirked at him.

“What a good soul doing here?” the soul asked.

“I, I think I am lost. Do you know where is the Gate?” Yifan asked. He took a good look at the soul and he was breathless.

_What a beautiful face. Is this what fell in love at first sight meant?_

“Yifan! Stop! Yifan, that’s the Hell, stop!” Yixing shouted from afar, Yifan immediately turned his head towards Yixing.

“Yixing! I am so sorry, I didn’t know!” Yifan immediately backed away, but he didn’t miss the smile from the soul that he talked with just now.

“You can always come again, my guardian.” the soul said and smiled at him.

And Yifan knew that must be Zitao.

 

 

 

After the incident, an archangel came to Baekhyun’s room and gave him a long lecture regarding maintaining the balance of good and bad souls and how important not to interrupt the balance. Yin and Yang.

And he was asked to stay in Afterlife, to never leave until Yifan mastered his teleportation skill.

That’s the problem. Skills were not easy to be developed. Baekhyun himself was lucky that he became an angel immediately after he arrived at Afterlife so he didn’t know the hardship of mastering the teleportation since all angels could fly. Jongdae was probably a pilot in his past life since he could master it in two weeks. And most of the guardians under his guide took years to master the skill. There was even a soul that took 400 years to master it.

And he could not teach Yifan something that he didn’t learn himself. He could only tell Yifan the feeling of flying across the space, the sudden gush of air when he arrived at the desired destination. The usual stuffs he taught to his past guardians.

Yifan understood Baekhyun’s struggles to teach him and told him that it was okay to take it slow.

And that was the other problem. Baekhyun didn’t want to take it slow. He wanted Yifan to pass quickly. So that he could continue to tag along with Jongdae.

But he couldn’t say it out loud since it was forbidden.

And Baekhyun knew he was doomed.

He harbored a feeling towards Jongdae. Was this what they, the archangels and the angels wrote as extreme pining in human’s fate? Heartbreak so painful since the love wasn’t reciprocated back? Was this what tragedy meant since he knew they would never be together? Since it was against the rule to be in love?

Baekhyun made a mental note to himself to never put extreme pining and tragedy again in anyone’s fate.

 

 

 

Jongdae just finished departing souls when he decide to join Baekhyun and Yifan’s little class on teleporting at the Gate. Junmyeon and Yixing was there too, they greeted him once they saw Jongdae approaching.

“Yifan is a good student but Baekhyun is a bad teacher.” Jongdae commented.

“You once learned from him, be grateful.” Junmyeon snickered at his comment. Both of them knew Jongdae had talent in teleportation and not because of Baekhyun.

Jongdae looked at Baekhyun and Yifan again. Baekhyun was holding both of Yifan’s shoulders, in an effort to ask him to concentrate, eyes focused on each other.

Apparently they stood too close for Jongdae’s liking, so he decided to interrupt the moment.

“You both will never go anywhere if you guys keep that position!” he shouted from the place that he stood.

“Leave if you plan to disturb us!” Baekhyun answered angrily.

“Again, Yifan!” Baekhyun continued to concentrate on Yifan.

It was hard enough to concentrate with Jongdae’s presence. How he wished he could just take Jongdae’s hand and run away from this place.

“Baekhyun, concentrate.” Yifan whispered, just enough to be heard by the two of them.

Baekhyun felt like slapping himself on the forehead, the embarrassment been caught off guard by Yifan made his face went red.

“Baekhyun, I think I am in love. I fell for Zitao on first sight.” Yifan whispered again.

The sudden confession made Baekhyun’s eyes went round.

“My face would probably be as red as yours if Zitao is somewhere close to me too.” Yifan smiled.

And although Jongdae didn’t know what they were whispering about, he didn’t like that Yifan had such an effect on Baekhyun.

 

 

 

It was now the 800 years of living in Afterlife for Baekhyun when suddenly thunder and lightning was wild and fierce in Afterlife.

It could only mean one thing and Baekhyun dreaded to know the truth. He immediately teleported to the Gate from his room.

“Yifan! He went to the Hell!” Yixing immediately screamed when he saw Baekhyun.

Baekhyun’s face went white. He already told Yifan so many times to not follow his heart to go and meet Zitao. But Yifan often retaliated by saying that Baekhyun didn’t understand his feelings since he still could hang around Jongdae and do so many stuffs together while he could only see Zitao from afar.

“Baekhyun, the archangel will probably strike you too! Go somewhere safe so the other guardians will not be the collateral damage!” Yixing added again.

Panicked, Baekhyun could only think of one place, his room, so he immediately teleported back to his room. Would the archangels strike him today? Would he became one of the missing souls or would his positions be degraded into a guardian? He was thinking so hard since he wasn’t ready at all for this. But only when he stopped panicking that he realized he wasn’t alone in the room.

Wrong choice of safe place.

Jongdae was there.

And they could feel it from the sudden tense and growing pressure in the air.

Baekhyun was hesitating either to teleport to somewhere else or to just receive the strike there.

Another wrong choice again.

Jongdae immediately hugged Baekhyun in his hesitation and the thunder striked both of them.

“I love you...”

That was the last words Baekhyun heard before his soul faded away.

 

* * *

 

It was the 800th years since the departed souls of Byun Baekhyun and Kim Jongdae was registered at Afterlife.

And now two souls were missing from Afterlife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just ask at the comment section if it’s get confusing. Thanks :)


	3. Chapter 3

Baekhyun was now back in the Celestial World, as a free archangel from the Light Tribe, the truest tribe of an angel.

Celestial was a big world. They were 12 acknowledged tribes and 1 unacknowledged tribe. Each tribe, represented each element in Celestial, and lived in their own palaces. The 12 tribes tried their best to maintain the peaceful flow in Celestial, Afterlife and the human world. The archangels were all immortals. They lived a long life, and would only departed into the World of Nothingness once they passed their calamity trial. Or when they were killed by evil magic.

There were pure immortal archangels, like Baekhyun, who never experienced mortal life, born solely from two archangels essences. They were born in a form of an angel, and once the Celestial deemed them as ready enough to be an archangel, then the angel would be ascended as an archangel.

And there were levelling archangels, those who were born first time as a mortal, then did extreme good deeds and were approved by the Celestial to be reborn again as an angel in the Celestial World.

Added all his life together, from birth to growing up, and through the time of his punishment; he was now a 30 000 years old archangel.

 

 

 

When Baekhyun woke up, he woke up on his own bed, somewhere in the Light Palace. He was the second prince of the Light Tribe, who just finished serving his punishment to experience two lifetimes on the human world and the Afterlife. He didn’t exactly remember why he was being punished, and the whole Celestial World took an oath not to tell him and the feelings of personal judgement based on the tragedy had been removed too from every immortal. Celestial also omitted the feeling of curiosity to know what happened, in Baekhyun himself. A mistake so big should always be left forgotten.

But he remembered the whole thing that happened to him in the human world and the Afterlife, served as a reminder so that he would never make the Celestial angry again.

And yes, he remembered Kim Jongdae.

The person and soul that he kept on falling in love with. His Kim Jongdae. He wondered where was Jongdae now.

Was Jongdae a human now? Or did he survive the lightning strike?

Celestial forbid any immortal that returned from Afterlife to visit it again for 10 000 years. And the human world was too vast and too diverse for Baekhyun to search for Jongdae. It was like searching a needle in a haystack.

But Baekhyun never gave up on Jongdae. In his three lives and in those three worlds, Jongdae was the only person he ever devoted his heart with. Without knowingly, he kept on falling for the same person.

 

 

 

The first thing he did once he woke up was to go to the Stone of Destined Souls. That was where the Celestial showed the name of all archangels and their destined soulmate.

The stone of Destined Souls might had the coolest name ever but truth was it just another dull looking block of stone. And that made Baekhyun hesitated when he arrived at the Sacred Area, where the stone was situated.

Okay Baekhyun, stop or you will get another lightning strike from Celestial itself this time, he thought to himself.

Baekhyun stood in front of the stone and calmly called out his name.

“Byun Baekhyun, from the Light Tribe.”

The stone suddenly lit up and his name showed up in front of him.

And his destined soul was not Kim Jongdae.

Baekhyun sighed. Luckily, the archangels could erase their own names if they opted not to be destined with the chosen archangel. Baekhyun put his hand in front of his name and with a little bit of magic, he erased his name from the stone.

A long stick with his name carved into it appeared in front of him and Baekhyun took it and kept it with him. In case he wanted to put his name back in the Stone, he could always write back his name using the stick.

And Baekhyun knew he would never write back his name. He waited for so long to have his own happy ending and he would do anything to get it.

 

 

 

It was now the 8000th year after the Afterlife event. Not that Baekhyun noticed any significance with the number.

He went to a few places and he still didn’t manage to find Jongdae.

Yes, he always hoped that he would meet Jongdae.

In one fine day, the Light King suddenly summoned Baekhyun into the main hall. Baekhyun followed the order and greeted his father.

“Baekhyun, I want you to go to the Lightning Palace. The King himself asked for our help. The Demon Tribe keep on attacking their tribes so I want you to help them in their next war. Stay there for as long as they need our help.” his father ordered.

The Lightning Tribe. The tribe that was assigned to strike the Afterlife and the human world. The neighboring tribe that lived in the middle of the Light City and the Demon City. The tribe that he avoided the most since he could still feel the pain of the lightning strike clearly. And the fact that Jongdae felt the same kind of pain hurted him until this day.

But Baekhyun knew better than to refuse his father’s order. It was enough for him to tarnish their good names by being punished to the mortal world. An as archangel, it was his duty first and foremost to maintain the peace in Celestial.

“Yes, father. I will go tomorrow.” Baekhyun replied, his father looked pleased with him.

“Bring Jinki with you. He knew all the rules in Lightning Tribe.”

Jinki was his cousin that was the closest to him, the most clever general of the Light Tribe, and Baekhyun was so delighted to hear that.

“Thanks, father!” Baekhyun bowed down towards the Light King.

 

 

 

Baekhyun and Jinki arrived at the Lightning Tribe on the next day. The guards immediately brought them to the palace to meet with the royal family. It had been a while since the last interaction between the Light and the Lightning tribes, so it was truly something to celebrate for.

“Thank you so much for coming, Baekhyun and Jinki. This means a lot to us. Your light magic is one of the magic that the Demon Tribe fear the most.” the Lightning King spoke as he gestured for Baekhyun and Jinki to sit in front of him.

“Let me introduce you to my son.”, the King pointed to the man beside him. ”This is Kim Kibum, the crown prince. And we adopted a newly born baby angel nearly 8000 years ago, Kim Jongdae. He is the second prince just like you Baekhyun.”, the King announced proudly.

The name made Baekhyun breathless for a while and Jinki seemed to notice Baekhyun’s sudden stiffness.

“If it is wasn’t rude for me to ask, where is the second prince?” Baekhyun asked once he regained his composure.

“Oh! Jongdae is in his room. He is not even an archangel yet, so I don’t want to bother him too much with these political issues.” the King answered honestly.

Not an archangel yet? If he is my Jongdae and he didn’t ascend as an archangel yet, will he remember our memories in our previous lives?

“Baekhyun, the King wants us to rest for today. The meeting about the Demon Tribe will be held tomorrow.” Jinki tapped on Baekhyun’s arm, and he immediately returned from his thoughts.

“Yes, yes. Sorry, I lost my focus for a moment. Sure, let’s go.”

 

 

 

To know that someone with the name Kim Jongdae was breathing at the same place with him truly made Baekhyun felt so restless. He went out from his room and walked around aimlessly.

He stopped near the lotus pond when he saw a familiar lean body lie down at the bank. He came closer to the person to take a better look. The person closed his eyes and seemed to enjoy his time out here with the sun but Baekhyun knew the person even with closed eyes.

Baekhyun went all teary eyes as he saw the figure and he tried his best to control his feelings.

_Here you are._

“Dae.”

The person opened his eyes and sat upright.

“Do I know you? Although I don’t really remember someone call me like that.”

“I’m Baekhyun.”

_Your Hyun._

“Ah, you must be Byun Baekhyun! The prince from the Light Tribe that my father told me yesterday! I’m Jongdae by the way, the second prince.” Jongdae bowed down, as a sign of respect.

“Another introduction, huh?”, Baekhyun whispered to himself but he bowed down too.

“Your father told me you are still an angel, is it true?” Baekhyun asked, as he sat beside Jongdae.

“Yeah, my ascension to archangel is probably near. I am nearly 8000 years old now.” Jongdae replied with his usual smile and Baekhyun was pleased to look at it.

_So he probably was born after the event in Afterlife._

Normally an angel in Celestial would ascend to an archangel when they were 10 000 years old. They were a lot of angels ascended earlier, Baekhyun himself ascended to an archangel when he was 9000 years old.

“The Queen, my mom, had dreamt of me everyday for a year before she really found me in the middle of that pond, you know. And an old archangel appeared in those dreams told her to give me the name Kim Jongdae.” Jongdae smiled again.

“You are very special indeed, Jongdae.” Baekhyun replied.

 

 

 

Baekhyun and Jongdae talked for a few hours before Jongdae excused himself since he had something else to do. It was funny how in every life they would immediately click and became friends straight away.

Baekhyun returned to his room and he saw Jinki was waiting for him there.

“Made a new friend?” Jinki asked him. Jinki knew about Kim Jongdae. If there was someone Baekhyun would trust his secret other than Jongdae, it would be Jinki.

“Yeah, I met him at the pond. I am so glad that he was fine.” Baekhyun sat himself in front of Jinki. “Say, Jinki. You knew a lot about us archangels, right? Can a leveling archangel that ascended from a human to a soul, to an angel and to an archangel remember their times through all those phases? I was born purely immortal so I don’t really understand how the memories work for the other type of archangels.”

“I am ascended from a human just like how you described just now, Baekhyun.” Jinki smiled at him.

Baekhyun’s eyes went round. Jinki never told much about himself but Jinki always had the air of elegance around him so he just assumed Jinki was purely immortal.

“I thought you were purely immortal...”

“No, I started as a mortal. But yeah, once ascended as an archangel, I remembered my time as a mortal but I don’t really remember my time as a soul. It was a blur. I read that some remembered all of their memories in all phases, some are selected like mine, and some didn’t even remember at all.” Jinki explained to him.

“The possibilities...?” Baekhyun slowly asked.

“To remember all the memories? I am not sure. I remember the happy event, but the sadness and the filler ones were a total blur. I guess it really depend on that angel.”

“Should I make him happy now, Jinki?” Baekhyun sighed. He felt conflicted. Some part of him wanted Jongdae to remember, but some part of him wanted Jongdae to forget it. There were so many happiness and sadness in their previous lives.

“You are lucky to be able to meet him again, Baekhyun. I never got the chance to meet the people I once met in the mortal world. But again, there is nothing wrong with making him happy now. Don’t let memories stop you. Live fully in the present. That way, undeniably, you will make him your future.”

Make him his future. Jongdae as Baekhyun’s future. And he wanted it more than anything.

“I am started to think that the Celestial decided to level him up as an archangel because he keeps on suffering because of me during my punishment time.” Baekhyun sighed.

“Died twice for an archangel? Even us the archangels didn’t want to suffer that easily for the others. He is truly a keeper, Baekhyun.”

And yes, Baekhyun would want to keep him forever.

 

 

 

Every week, there would be an attack by the Demon Tribe. Even light archangels like Baekhyun and Jinki was hurt in every battle.

Jongdae would always wait for them to come back in every battle. Even just the sight of Jongdae himself waited for them was enough to make Baekhyun happy and wash all the pain away.

Jongdae wasn’t a healer and his magic wasn’t enough to replace the archangels’ magic but he always tried his best to help in whatever way he could.

That part of him would never change, Baekhyun smiled to himself while Jongdae distributed the healing water to everyone.

 

 

 

Baekhyun was sitting at the lotus pond and when Jongdae spotted him, Baekhyun patted the empty spot beside him. Jongdae sat there with a worried look.

“Why? Is anything wrong, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun lie down and put his head on Jongdae’s lap. That took Jongdae off guard but then he relaxed himself.

“Slow down. You will hurt yourself too if you keep on worrying about others nonstop. Let’s just rest for a while.” Baekhyun said and closed his eyes.

Jongdae played with Baekhyun’s hair. Such soft locks, he said to himself.

“Dae, do you want to know a secret?” Baekhyun asked.

“Count me in.” Jongdae answered eagerly.

“I am in love with someone and I miss that person.”

And if Jongdae went rigid and silent, Baekhyun only noted the changes in his brain.

“Wow, I must say I’m surprised. You didn’t look like someone who is missing your lover.” Jongdae finally commented.

“Missing is truly an understatement but that person is everywhere for me. That person is my air, my light, my sole purpose in life. That person is in me, with me.”

“Okay, now you really sounds like a lovesick archangel.” Jongdae made a puke gesture. Baekhyun just chuckled at his reactions.

“Pray for us, Jongdae. Pray for that person. I even removed my name from the Stone of Destined Souls since we weren’t destined to be together.” Baekhyun looked at him longingly in the eyes.

There were hidden messages in those stare but Jongdae could not decipher what Baekhyun really want to say to him.

“Is that person in the Light City?” Jongdae finally asked.

“That’s a secret for me to keep.” Baekhyun closed his eyes again.

“If it wasn’t that person’s name on the Stone with you, then maybe that person is with someone else now?” Jongdae asked again. Was he jealous? Maybe. He wanted Baekhyun to stop hoping for this person.

“I will win the person's heart again.”

“Wow, so determined.”

_Just for you._

 

 

 

It was a surprise attack. No one foresaw this.

The Demon Tribe was sending their troops to the Lightning City using a very powerful magic. The troops appeared in the sky, immediately colored it dark.

Baekhyun and Jinki immediately teleported to the main war camp. The King’s order was simple. Kill any demon archangels and angels in sight.

They teleported fast to the Lightning City, that was where the Demon troops gathered the most. A general followed them too to guard them since their magic gave the most damage to the Demon troops.

“Should we ask help from the Light Palace?” Baekhyun asked Jinki once they defeated the enemies appearing in the street.

“Can you teleport fast to Light Palace? The amount of troops they sent here was insane.” Jinki asked, as he ascended from the ground to scan for the enemies. He managed to take a look around the city and the situation was bad.

“I can try. But is it okay if I leave you here?” Baekhyun asked, concerned abouy Jinki’s safety.

“I will create a light barrier for the city, that should scare them for a while. Baekhyun, you can teleport faster than me so please ask for help fast, then go back to the Lightning Palace. I can sense that the Demon Prince was heading there now. General, please find your King and tell him. The Demon Prince is probably aiming for the royal family.” Jinki ordered.

Baekhyun’s face immediately changed when he heard that the royal family was in danger.

“Jinki, Jong-“

“Trust me, I’ll protect him. Go!”

 

 

 

Baekhyun managed to return back to Lightning City in just half an hour after he asked help from his father. The Light King immediately sent troops to help the Lightning Tribe.

Jinki managed to seal the whole Lightning City with his light magic, and this move forced the Demon troops to either retreat or to march towards the Lightning Palace.

Which were now heavily guarded with Lightning archangels.

“Guys! How’s the situation?” Baekhyun asked once he teleported to the main hall of the palace. The archangels there were tense, they quickly readied to cast their magic once they heard Baekhyun's voice but was immediately relieved when they saw him. The main hall was a mess. Some archangels were heavily wounded and the angels were now focused on healing the injured.

“Baekhyun! Did the Light King approve to use the Light troops? The Demon troops are now hiding in the Lightning Forest, we are currently on halt. There are too many casualties." the Lightning King replied as he approached Baekhyun. His face looked so troubled.

"The Light troops will arrive soon. My brother will lead them." Baekhyun answered, glad to see the King was fine. Baekhyun searched around for familiar faces and was surprised to see Jinki. Jinki lie together with the other soldiers, he was terribly wounded.

"Jinki, you looked terrible! Let me transfer some of my magic in you." Baekhyun immediately crouched beside Jinki. He guided Jinki to a sitting position and casted magic on Jinki's wound.

"Jongdae is at the gatehouse. He guards with the others there. I am sorry I can't do much." Jinki said weakly.

"Silly! You guarded the whole city! Please stay alive, Jinki. Celestial will probably send me to the mortal world again if I let you die."

"Your Majesty!" a Lightning archangels suddenly appeared and ran towards the King, distracted the others.

"The Light troops already appeared at the gatehouse!" he bowed down towards the King.

The Lightning King looked at Baekhyun and Jinki in which Baekhyun immediately nodded. The Light troops would follow any order from the Lightning King, his father already assured him that.

"Let's finish this war now, everybody." the King ordered.

The whole main hall was greeted with battle cheers, the fighting spirits of every archangel and angel were quickly heightened up. Even Baekhyun and Jinki felt there were still hope.

"That's enough magic, Baekhyun. You need it for yourself and I already feel a whole lot better now. Go with the other Light troops. I will stay here to help the archangels guarding the hall and the Keep." Jinki said as he stood slowly.

Baekhyun looked at him worrily. "Will you be okay?" he asked.

"I still can cast some spell and swing my sword. Don't worry, let's do this."

 

 

 

Another round of battle happened and it occurred in the Lightning Forest. The Lightning and the Light troops, led by both of their Crown Princes, decided to attack the Demon troops there immediately after the arrival of the Light troops.

Baekhyun tried his best to defeat any enemy in sight when suddenly Jinki appeared before him.

"Baekhyun! The Demon Prince just kidnapped Jongdae! They were at the main hall now! I managed to escape before he notice me!" Jinki said, his face was so full of guilt.

"Jongdae?! Damn it! Why?" Baekhyun panicked.

"Probably he wants the King to admit defeat. Baekhyun, I am so sorry I couldn’t protect them. I really don't want you to go there but it feels unfair now that you finally found him." Jinki looked at Baekhyun's eyes and he knew immediately Baekhyun's answer.

"Once you are there, hide quickly. I will take your position."

"Thank you Jinki."

Baekhyun immediately teleported to the main hall. Indeed, the ugly Demon Prince was there. His sword was close to Jongdae's throat and the sight made Baekhyun felt so helpless. The Lightning archangels there was defeated and only the Lightning King, the Demon Prince and Jongdae was left there. The whole situation was so intense, they didn't even sense Baekhyun was there so he immediately hid within the shadows.

"Bow down to us or your little angel will die." the Demon Prince said.

"Father, don't listen to him." Jongdae said calmly despite his position.

The Lightning King didn't even say anything. He probably had his own plan, judged from the way he looked intensely at Jongdae's eyes.

They were talking through their eyes and Baekhyun didn't like it. Baekhyun didn't understand their eyes language. Were Jongdae asked for his father's permission to die for the sake of the Lightning Tribe? Were Jongdae tried to convince his father to just strike both him and the Demon Prince with that freaking deathly lightning bolt? That really sounded like something Jongdae would do.

Baekhyun could not stop his thoughts anymore and he finally decided. He chanted a very powerful magic and aimed towards the back of the Demon Prince.

_Die, you maggot!_

The spell hit the Demon Prince directly and so suddenly, he dropped his sword in an instant. Jongdae was so shocked from the magic impact that he was thrown to the floor.

"Who dares..." the Demon Prince turned towards Baekhyun, as his body slowly dropped to the floor.

Baekhyun was so full of anger, he only focused on the Demon Prince's face, as he enjoyed the pained look. But he didn't notice that the Demon Prince was silently casting a spell.

And Jongdae noticed the magic accumulated around the Demon Prince's hand.

And the Lightning King noticed it too, but he also noticed that Jongdae was now looking at Baekhyun.

_Damn kids in love._

The Lightning King immediately hit the Demon Prince with his lightning bolt with hope that his magic would reach the Demon Prince first but at the same time, the Demon Prince casted his spell towards Baekhyun when suddenly Jongdae appeared in front of him to receive the spell.

And both spells hit at the same time. The Demon Prince vanished into the nothingness while Jongdae slowly fell to the ground.

"No!" Baekhyun screamed. He immediately ran towards Jongdae and hugged him.

"No, no. Jongdae, please stay with me, please." Baekhyun cried as he lowered both of them on the floor. He lie Jongdae's head on his lap as he tried to transfer his magic into Jongdae's body.

"Why do you keep on suffering for me, this is not fair." Baekhyun sobbed hard.

His magic didn't work and he was so frustrated. He looked at the Lightning King for help, but the King too went speechless.

"Did I...suffer often for you..?" Jongdae asked weakly.

"Stupid. In every life we always suffer together, why do you took it alone this time?" Baekhyun hugged Jongdae close to his body.

"So...I am the one...you are talking about before...I am glad..." Jongdae coughed and he spilled blood. His eyes slowly went blurred and unfocused.

But despite all the blood, tears and sweat, he always had his million volt smile ready for Baekhyun.

"Hyun... Sorry..."

"Dae, no... I love you... Please stay with me in this life time too..."

Jongdae slowly closed his eyes as he smiled again when he heard those words.

And Baekhyun's wail was so painful, the whole Lightning Palace cried with him.

 

* * *

 

It was the 8000th year since Baekhyun yearned to meet Jongdae again.

And he would always yearn for Kim Jongdae.

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, just ask at the comment section if you want me to explain anything. Thanks :)


	4. Epilogue

He woke up with a weird feeling in him.

His vision was suddenly sharper than before, his hearing was better too.

His body felt lighter as he tried to ascend from his bed.

His magic felt stronger too.

He looked out from the window. It was peaceful. No signs of war.

Lightning Tribe won by the looks of it.

He knew what happened to him too and he smiled.

 

 

 

He teleported to the lotus pond. He saw a familiar lean body lie down at the bank so he came closer to the person to take a better look. The person closed his eyes and seemed to enjoy his time out here with the sun.

_What a familiar sight._

"Next time you cast a spell with the intention to kill, make sure it is powerful enough to inflict sudden death." he said.

Baekhyun immediately opened his eyes. He blinked it a few more times, before he smiled.

"Kim Jongdae is finally awake."

"How long has it been since the war?"

"Secret." Baekhyun closed his eyes again. The Lightning King already told him last week that Jongdae would wake up at any time now.

The Demon Prince’s magic was already weakened after Baekhyun attacked him so when his magic hit Jongdae, his essence wasn’t damage. It would take time for his body to recover but Jongdae would wake up for sure.

And apparently Jongdae decided to wake up half an hour after Baekhyun visited him just now.

"Is this how you celebrated that I am well and alive, now?"

"I have been waiting for you for so long, I have lost track of time. Even the Lightning Tribe regained its peace faster than you waking up from your slumber."

"Jerk."

"Have you met your father? I will talk more with you once you have greeted him."

"Later. I want to go to the Stone."

And with that sentence, finally Baekhyun opened his eyes again and immediately stood, eyes looking at Jongdae. But Jongdae just looked straight at the pond.

"Why?" Baekhyun asked.

"I have ascended. And I remember. You left me because of your mortal mom. That was painful."

"Jongdae."

"And you was a bad mentor. You must have encourage Yifan to go and meet Zitao."

"Dae."

"But you waited for me in this life time. The least I can do for you now is to remove my name from the Stone too."

Baekhyun immediately hugged Jongdae. He cried so hard that Jongdae couldn't help himself but to release the hug. He held both of Baekhyun's hands.

"Hey, don't cry. You look ugly."

"You are uglier." Baekhyun looked at the ground, he tried to control his sobs.

"Hey, look at me." Jongdae pleaded and it was easy for Baekhyun to follow.

"Lead me to the Stone. Let's do it together."

And with that Baekhyun cried again.

 

 

 

"Whoa. So this is the mighty stone?" Jongdae asked as he examined the Stone of the Destined Souls.

"Say it again and Celestial will strike you." Baekhyun replied as he stood beside Jongdae.

"I have already tasted so many magic, no more, thank you. Baekhyun, how to do this?"

"Say your name and your tribe."

"Kim Jongdae, from the Lightning Tribe."

The stone lit up and he saw his name appeared on the stone.

"Whoa. Now the stone deserves its name. So.... Who is my destined soul?"

"Jongdae."

"Bruno Mars? The name sounds interesting. This person must be fun."

"Kim. Jong. Dae."

Jongdae turned around to look at Baekhyun's annoyed face. He laughed and that earned a blow on his shoulder.

"Chill, Hyun. I survived an evil magic for you, I am not backing out now." Jongdae said as he hovered his hand slowly over his name.

His name disappeared and a stick appeared in front of Jongdae. Baekhyun was quick to snatch it.

"Here's mine. Keep it. I will keep yours." Baekhyun handed Jongdae the stick that was written with his name.

"Just like the necklaces and the rings? I refuse. Let's do something else with these." Jongdae looked at him meaningfully.

"What do you have in mind?"

"Let's make a vow like the mortal. This is the sacred stone, right? Let's do it now. Once we have finished reciting our vows, let's break the stick. By then will only you and me will be bonded with no one but each other."

Baekhyun's heart swollen with love when he heard the suggestion. He searched for Jongdae's eyes to see if he really meant it when Jongdae just smiled back at him.

"You lead, Hyun. I don't really remember what the mortal said in their vows."

Baekhyun held back his tears as he faced the Stone, with Jongdae beside him. He held Jongdae's stick in his hand, while Jongdae held his.

"I, Byun Baekhyun from the Light Tribe, in this Celestial's sacred land, in witness of the twelve elements and the Stone of the Destined Souls, from today on, vow to love Kim Jongdae from the Lightning Tribe, forever. For all lives and generations, I will treat him well, guard and protect him, no matter the misfortune or fortune." he finished with tears dropped from his face.

"I, Kim Jongdae from the Lightning Tribe, in this Celestial's sacred land, in witness of the twelve elements and the Stone of the Destined Souls, from today on, vow to love Byun Baekhyun from the Light Tribe, forever. For all lives and generations, I will treat him well, guard and protect him, no matter the misfortune or fortune." Jongdae followed, as he quickly removed his own tears.

Both of them snapped the stick in their hands into two at the same time.

Baekhyun smiled at Jongdae in which Jongdae was quick to return.

They bowed down before the Stone, three times.

They asked from the Celestial to bless their relationships in all of their three lives.

The three lives that they went through together and would still continue to face it together.

 

 

 

"What do you want to do after this, Jongdae?"

"Let's go find those people that we met along the way. They must be somewhere, in some forms."

"Sounds like a plan, I’m in."

 

* * *

 

It was the 88th day after Jongdae received the evil magic on behalf of Baekhyun, and they both survived the war.

They were now both archangels. Immortals with limitless youth.

And they would continue their lives together, with each other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You finally reached the end! BTW, the vow was modified from Three Lives Three Worlds. Thank you so much for reading. :)


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